diff --git a/bin/php-scoper b/bin/php-scoper
index 0aef0ad95..16d7316d1 100755
--- a/bin/php-scoper
+++ b/bin/php-scoper
@@ -56,9 +56,13 @@ $isVeryVerbose = array_reduce(
     false
 );
 
-//if ('phar:' === substr(__FILE__, 0, 5)) {
-    check_requirements($autoload, $isVeryVerbose);
-//}
+if ('phar:' === substr(__FILE__, 0, 5)) {
+    $checkPassed = check_requirements($autoload, $isVeryVerbose);
+
+    if (false === $checkPassed) {
+        exit(1);
+    }
+}
 
 $app = create_application();
 
diff --git a/src/Autoload/Requirements.php b/src/Autoload/Requirements.php
index 216d47a63..1cbe916fd 100644
--- a/src/Autoload/Requirements.php
+++ b/src/Autoload/Requirements.php
@@ -63,19 +63,12 @@ private function addPhpVersionRequirement(array $composerConfig)
         $this->addRequirement(
             Semver::satisfies(phpversion(), $requiredPhpVersion),
             sprintf(
-                'PHP version must satisfies <comment>%s</comment> (<comment>%s</comment> installed)',
+                'PHP version must satisfies "%s" ("%s" installed)',
                 $requiredPhpVersion,
                 $installedPhpVersion
             ),
-            '',
             ''
         );
-
-        $this->addRequirement(
-            version_compare($installedPhpVersion, '5.3.16', '!='),
-            'PHP version must not be 5.3.16 as Symfony won\'t work properly with it',
-            'Install PHP 5.3.17 or newer (or downgrade to an earlier PHP version)'
-        );
     }
 
     private function addExtensionRequirements(array $composerConfig)
@@ -95,10 +88,9 @@ private function addExtensionRequirement($extension)
         $this->addRequirement(
             extension_loaded($extension),
             sprintf(
-                'The extension <comment>%s</comment> must be enabled.',
+                'The extension "%s" must be enabled.',
                 $extension
             ),
-            '',
             ''
         );
     }
diff --git a/src/check.php b/src/check.php
index 7281f3309..cc46e8976 100644
--- a/src/check.php
+++ b/src/check.php
@@ -29,18 +29,37 @@ function check_requirements($autoload, $verbose)
     $requirements = new Requirements(dirname(dirname(realpath($autoload))));
     $iniPath = $requirements->getPhpIniPath();
 
+    $checkPassed = array_reduce(
+        $requirements->getRequirements(),
+        /**
+         * @param bool $checkPassed
+         * @param Requirement $requirement
+         *
+         * @return bool
+         */
+        function ($checkPassed, Requirement $requirement) use ($lineSize) {
+            return $checkPassed || null ===get_error_message($requirement, $lineSize);
+        },
+        false
+    );
+
+    if (false === $checkPassed) {
+        // Override the default verbosity to output errors regardless of the verbosity asked by the user
+        $verbose = true;
+    }
+
     echo_title('PHP-Scoper Requirements Checker', null, $verbose);
 
-    echo '> PHP is using the following php.ini file:' . PHP_EOL;
+    vecho('> PHP is using the following php.ini file:' . PHP_EOL, $verbose);
+
     if ($iniPath) {
         echo_style('green', '  ' . $iniPath, $verbose);
     } else {
         echo_style('yellow', '  WARNING: No configuration file (php.ini) used by PHP!', $verbose);
     }
 
-    echo PHP_EOL . PHP_EOL;
-
-    echo '> Checking PHP-Scoper requirements:' . PHP_EOL . '  ';
+    vecho(PHP_EOL . PHP_EOL, $verbose);
+    vecho('> Checking PHP-Scoper requirements:' . PHP_EOL . '  ', $verbose);
 
     $messages = [];
 
@@ -53,8 +72,6 @@ function check_requirements($autoload, $verbose)
         }
     }
 
-    $checkPassed = empty($messages['error']);
-
     foreach ($requirements->getRecommendations() as $requirement) {
         if ($helpText = get_error_message($requirement, $lineSize)) {
             echo_style('yellow', 'W', $verbose);
@@ -67,12 +84,12 @@ function check_requirements($autoload, $verbose)
     if ($checkPassed) {
         echo_block('success', 'OK', 'Your system is ready to run PHP-Scoper.', $verbose);
     } else {
-        echo_block('error', 'ERROR', 'Your system is not ready to run Symfony projects', $verbose);
+        echo_block('error', 'ERROR', 'Your system is not ready to run PHP-Scoper', $verbose);
 
         echo_title('Fix the following mandatory requirements', 'red', $verbose);
 
         foreach ($messages['error'] as $helpText) {
-            echo ' * ' . $helpText . PHP_EOL;
+            vecho(' * ' . $helpText . PHP_EOL, $verbose);
         }
     }
 
@@ -80,13 +97,22 @@ function check_requirements($autoload, $verbose)
         echo_title('Optional recommendations to improve your setup', 'yellow', $verbose);
 
         foreach ($messages['warning'] as $helpText) {
-            echo ' * ' . $helpText . PHP_EOL;
+            vecho(' * ' . $helpText . PHP_EOL, $verbose);
         }
     }
 
     return $checkPassed;
 }
 
+function vecho($message, $verbose)
+{
+    if (false === $verbose) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    echo $message;
+}
+
 /**
  * @param Requirement $requirement
  * @param int $lineSize
@@ -99,7 +125,10 @@ function get_error_message(Requirement $requirement, $lineSize)
     }
 
     $errorMessage = wordwrap($requirement->getTestMessage(), $lineSize - 3, PHP_EOL.'   ').PHP_EOL;
-    $errorMessage .= '   > '.wordwrap($requirement->getHelpText(), $lineSize - 5, PHP_EOL.'   > ').PHP_EOL;
+
+    if ('' !== $requirement->getHelpText()) {
+        $errorMessage .= '   > '.wordwrap($requirement->getHelpText(), $lineSize - 5, PHP_EOL.'   > ').PHP_EOL;
+    }
 
     return $errorMessage;
 }